In Bangladesh’s Cumilla, a case of sexual assault of a child has come to light. Abadullah, a 70-year-old man in the Lalmai Upazilla was found to have raped a 7-year-old girl multiple times over days. The child, a student in the local madasrsa, was raped in an empty room and was threatened into silence by the accused.
The child’s mother came to know about the repeated sexual assault from other children in the neighbourhood. When she asked her daughter, the child narrated her ordeal. When the woman complained about the rape of her daughter, local village elders called a meeting and tried to ‘settle’ the matter for 50,000 takas.
The police, accompanied by Army officials, reached the village on time and stopped the ‘settlement’. They arrested the rape accused Abadullah on the mother’s complaint.
Fazlur Rahman, one of the village elders, informed that they had asked for 50,000 taka for the ‘treatment’ of the girl.
Meawhile, the police have sent Abadullah into custody and the victim for medical examination.
